As I was thinking about the way some respond to #BlackLivesMatter with #AllLivesMatter, it struck me that people could have responded to the prophets in the Bible in the same way. Sure, poor lives matter, Micah and Amos. All lives matter. Stop focusing on just one group, when God cares about everyone. The prophets would not have disputed [Read More…]

Jim Davila has been highlighting how the New York Times has been backtracking on and correcting an article which engaged in the common denialist tactic of treating diverse scholarly views about specific details as though it were evidence that the existence of the very thing under investigation were in doubt – in this case, in [Read More…]

Samantha Field shared some wonderful updatings of the message of Amos. One sample follows below. Click through to read more. Amos 9 : 11-15 When I end all of this, I will restore the communities destroyed by urban programs and gentrification I will repair the decayed walls of those who live in assisted housing. I [Read More…]

A cute cartoon from People in White Coats. Is this blasphemy, or a miracle – or can it be both? While I probably would have shared it just for the punny title (mashing together pareidolia and idolatry), there is a serious point worth reflecting on – and not just about our human penchant to see patterns [Read More…]

This cartoon from Evolving Perspectives finds a very clever way of using science fiction to satirize those Muslim extremists who are murderously opposed to artistic depictions of Muhammad. [Read more…]

I love this cartoon from the New Yorker. This is precisely the problem with predictive prophecy. If it were to be specific about the distant future, it would be incomprehensible. But because it consistently lacks such information, it is unimpressively vague. There is no way things could be otherwise, is there – regardless of whether [Read More…]

I’ve been getting caught up on shows that I ought to have been watching for a while. Both Sherlock and The Big Bang Theory feature main characters who exhibit behaviors and abilities which suggest placement on the autism spectrum – incredible genius in some respects, but also difficulties in social interactions and knowledge that most [Read More…]

One key question: How did I not know about this song by Queen until now – or did I know about it and somehow forget? Another key question: Can we do this song in church sometime? (The issue, as far as that is concerned, is less “Will this meet with approval?” and more “Do we [Read More…]

No, this blog post is not asking about my opponents. It is to mention that a book to which I contributed, Who Do My Opponents Say That I Am?: An Investigation of the Accusations Against the Historical Jesus (Library of New Testament Studies), is now available as an ebook. At present it is only available in [Read More…]

My course on the Bible focuses a lot of attention on the identification and use of reliable sources. When students try to tackle an assignment on the authorship of the Book of Isaiah, they consistently find LaMar Adams’ online article, produced at Brigham Young University, which uses computer-generated statistics for the occurrence of certain prefixes [Read More…]